India must promote gender parity, push exports: Amitabh Kant

"While India has focussed on innovation, infrastructure, structural reforms and ease of doing business, a lot of work still needs to be done on gender parity and exports and ensuring that India has growth with equity," Kant said while addressing the 98th Annual Session of Assocham here.

Talking about the challenges for India in achieving 9-10 per cent growth for longer periods of time, Kant said, "There are challenges of gender parity because in India only 24 per cent of women work while world average is 48 per cent. If India has to grow at higher rate, it needs to ensure that women work. Therefore, consciously men need to push for gender parity."

Stating that several nations like Japan, Korea and China achieved 9-10 per cent growth post World War-II, he said, "There is no reason when you have a very young population and light dependency burdens that India should not achieve this, India must achieve this."

He also said that Indians need to find solutions for their problems be it providing seed and fertiliser to farmers depending on soil and weather conditions, converting waste into energy, providing clean drinking water and others.

"There are a lot of innovations which take place in Silicon Valley in the US but much of that are for driverless cars, war weapons, drones and other things but Indians have to find solutions to their problems," Kant said.